So first i'm basically forced to select TurboTax Premium because it has the forms i need as a 1099-nec and therefor I need to expense things. When I selected premium version, I was prompted with a screen that said if I had over $895 in expenses, the fee would be waived. Unfortunately, it is not "waived" and the program will not let me file my taxes until i give turbo tax a credit card number for their forced service.
Not sure what you saw that made you believe your fee for using online Premium would be waived. You must have misunderstood something. Online Premium is not free to use---it is a paid version of the online software. If you have self-employment income then that is the online version you need in order to prepare a Schedule C for your business expenses. Or you could use any version of the CD/download software on a full PC or Mac if you have a computer that supports that desktop software; every version of desktop software has all of the forms and schedules.
Or—-Use this IRS site for other ways to file for free. There are 8 free software versions available from the IRS Free File site
https://apps.irs.gov/app/freeFile/
Or—if you live in certain states you may be eligible to use the new IRS Direct File
( AZ, CA, FL, MA, NH, NV, NY, SD, TN, TX, WA, WY )
If that was a special offer, we don't know anything about it. It seems more like a misunderstanding. In any case, no one on this board can access your account or approve a refund, you need to contact customer support by phone. https://ttlc.intuit.com/turbotax-support/en-us/contact
It probably meant that if you enter your self employment expenses it might increase your refund (or reduce a tax due) for more than the price of upgrading to Premium. So that would cover the price. You can enter 1099NEC income into Deluxe if you don't need to enter expenses.
The "expenses" mentioned are all schedule A itemized deductions, not schedule C business expenses. In any case, no one on this board can access your account or look at the details of special offers. You will need to contact customer support.
@Maxrennnn wrote:
To be honest, it sounds like the AI answer bot is making stuff up. AI lies a lot. But with that screen shot, you might be able to force customer support to give you the discount. I have never heard of this offer, and it makes no sense that the company would charge for advanced services if you have $800 of deductions but waive the fee if you have $900 of deductions. It sounds like AI gone rogue, or some kind of weird marketing test. Good luck.